old55

And the sub doesn't have to stay on the ground for the whole of the rest of the match.

I think that's a great thought, he needs to build his confidence and as you say we need to find out if he can play. This week would be a good to start him but who to leave out - I'm not in favour of leaving Morton out, that was his first footy for the year.

Agree there's some minimum standards and team rules that he has to follow but to fully school him in defensive positioning etc may be counter-productive. I'm in no way suggesting he couldn't become a cog but I'm not sure that's what we want. We may be saying "What the 4^&% is Jurrah doing?" but the fun really starts when the opposition is saying it.

It's quite likely I read that too then.

The advantage he brings is his unpredictability but that delivers the outstanding and the dire. We could drill him in team rules and we'd eliminate the dire but we'd also blunt his brilliance. It's a tough one - Liam could become cake but I think he's more value as icing. I think we should just let him play his own game and accept the highs and lows. In a big, tight final his X-factor could truly be a game breaker.

Indeed - guilty as charged. I enjoyed reading all the endorsements here of Thompson's game plan in 2006, Clarkson's game plan in 2007 and Matlhouse's game plan in 2009 - they were enlightening. No-one, including me, has got a clue really.

He got Collingwood up pretty quickly in 2002-3, but for lack of even talent he would've won a flag then - that's not a problem he'll have at Melboutrne

I don't know if Bailey's game plan will be successful but Malthouse has said it takes 2-3 years working on a plan to get it nailed. It doesn't surprise me at all that we're struggling with it. We've recruited good contested ball winners, good kicks with good endurance which complement our style. I don't think those attributes are going out of fashion. But the players have to work very hard to make it work and execute well when fatigued - I'm not sure that our players understand or are capable yet of the level of intensity required to make it work. As posted, I'm glad we're not copying the current vogue - that was TGR's greatest criticism of ND. We're trying to play a style to beat it, just like Collingwood developed a game style to beat Geelong. Essendon has a much more mature list than us. I thought they were really great against us in that NAB Cup game. Do you think that they're going to win a flag playing that way? Remember that's all that matters.

We currently have a low inside 50 count and a high perecntage of goals scored for inside 50s - we don't generate opposition turnovers inside our 50 becuause the opposition hasn't got it very often in there.

One thing I can guarantee is that Collingwood's current gameplan wont win the 2014 premiership. My son's lawyer thinks that Bailey is on the right track.

It's hard to pick Sidebottom at 17 when he was already picked at 11.

I believe he got the 3 Brownlow votes in both games against Collingwood last year.

It's not just us - I've seen the stats and there's a dip in games played in that range across all clubs. Gysberts was only "left-field" as far as BF predictions were concerned - just like Pendlebury was "left-field"

If he wasn't flag core © after 1 game then he definitely is after 4. The stats show that picks in the teens and 20s often don't work out - I think earlier picks are more certain, these picks are often too "safe" and later picks are more speculative, look at X-factor and deliver more hits. Grimes is a hit, Tapscott looks promising but we're looking at possible misses with Blease, Strauss and Maric in this range. That's 50:50, if one of those latter 3 can make it then we'll have done well. Cook in this range too early to say.

The problem is that he thinks he's Gary Ablett - a man's got to understand his limitations.

I don't think that's right, he does make good ground position and is able to get into a 1:1 with some space on his opponent but team-mates don't go to him in this situation because it appears they don't have confidence he'll win the contest - and there's some evidence that's true. They need to be confident he'll win the 1:1 and maybe that will come with further physical development.

Interesting that you focus on "forms of attack" when Collingwood's premiership success is based on a form of defence. Unsure if this is a step forward from your "we've got it, they've got it or it's in dispute" analysis or not.

How didn't we trade Franklin for Bruce? I guess we were worried about Franklin's kicking.

"Fev eats baby" dee-luded: It's all part of his recovery

According to ABC radio the "teddy bear" has been sent off in the Narre Warren match for fighting.

It's going to take a very good player to displace him.

Not sure if serious?

So what conclusion are you drawing about Trengove's pace? I guess it must be the same one you draw about Sumner's pace after Bennell smoked him? Trengove = Sumner? Or how about just Trengove and Sumner aren't as fast as L.Jetta, Rohan and Bennell

If Tapscott plays back the Geelong player he'd perhaps most resemble is Josh Hunt. Hunt is 185/100 and Tappy is 180/85 so there is a size difference. I must admit I've never been a big fan of Hunt and much preferred James Kelly back there in that role when Hunt was out with his knee injury - but that's at least partly because I don't think Hunt plays very accountable football. I guess a classic Geelong premiership back 6 looks something like: Hunt - Tapscott Scarlett - Frawley Harley - Rivers Mackie - Strauss Taylor - Garland Enright - Grimes

And so many people reckon they get paid too much! The current AFLPA claim for 27% or revenue should be viewed in the light of this article. Or the fact that players can't play a round of golf without a cart because they can't walk the cause due to the battering their bodies have taken.